SENATE COMMUNITY AFFAIRS COMMITTEE

 

STATEMENT TO

 

SENATE, No. 965

 

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

 

DATED: MAY 2, 1996

 

 

      The Senate Community Affairs Committee reports favorably Senate Bill No. 965.

      This bill would require a county, municipality or educational institution to reimburse the New Jersey Transit Corporation for costs the corporation incurred in the hiring and training of a police officer who resigns during a probationary appointment or during the first two years of a permanent appointment, and is hired within 120 days of the date of resignation by the county, municipality or educational institution. The bill would also require the New Jersey Transit Corporation to reimburse a county, municipality or educational institution whenever the corporation hires a member of a county, municipal or educational institution police department under similar circumstances.

      Current law provides for this reciprocal arrangement among counties, municipalities and educational institutions. The purpose of this bill is to include the New Jersey Transit Corporation in this arrangement because it has been reported that the New Jersey Transit Police Department has lost several recent hires to municipal police departments.

      Specifically, the bill would require a hiring authority to reimburse an officer's former employer for the total certified costs that the former employer incurred in examining, hiring and training the officer whenever the officer resigns during a probationary appointment or during the first 30 days of a permanent appointment, and the hiring authority hired the officer within 120 days of the date of the officer's resignation. Furthermore, the bill would require a hiring authority to reimburse an officer's former employer for one-half of the total certified costs that the former employer incurred in examining, hiring and training the officer whenever the officer resigns a permanent appointment held for more than 30 days but for less than two years, and the hiring authority hired the officer within 120 days of the date of the officer's resignation.